We are very pleased to report that whilst our change of venue to Dimbola Lodge in 2008 caused a few minor drop-outs at the beginning of the year this has been made up four-fold by new memberships. The IWDIG has become much more successful this year, as can be seen in the variety of projects that have been undertaken, it has attracted new members through what it can offer photographers and the group is very much looking forward to a forthcoming exhibition in February (details to be announced soon) along with many other new and exciting projects that are planned.

The IWDIG Christmas Party, which took place on December 17th, clearly showed what a diverse group we are!  It was time to put down the cameras and focus on having a good time. Whilst, the economic grinch may be trying to wreak havoc on the Christmas spirit,  he has never met Amanda who absolutely refused to let the Christmas Soiree at Dimbola go by without a tasty festive treat.
 
Everyone shared with one another the season’s goodwill and enjoyed a hot and cold buffet including turkey and roast beef, followed by a choice of decadent desserts including the Yule Log from heaven (no photographic evidence as it was demolished en-masse and no-one thought to bring a camera, whoops!). Thanks to the other ‘wise monkeys’ and Angie (bet she wished she’d stayed at home) for helping out in the kitchen and washing-up!
 
We look forward to seeing all of you next year on 7th January 2009. Until then, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope the New Year is filled with health, happiness and prosperity for all.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

We were very pleased to be contacted by Jackie Parry the author of “Isle of Wight Landmark Visitors Guide” earlier this year with a request for new images for the guide’s latest edition. We set the IWDIG photographers the task of submitting images to meet their brief and made available 60 images for selection in the portfolio: view here

The response from both the author and publishers was very complimentary regarding the quality of the images submitted and they were pleased to be able to select 7 images (pictured) for this new edition to be published early in the New Year.

Congratulations are due to the following IWDIG photographers:

 Amanda Johnson for ‘Quarr Abbey’ and ‘Osborne House’
Lorraine Skipper for ‘Round the Island Race’
Colin Trigg for ‘Newport Mermaid’
Michael Thomas ‘St Catherines from the Waverley’
Neil Hunt for ‘St Catherine’s Oratory’ and ‘The Needles’ 

The photographers will be credited for their images in the new guide and thanks to their efforts the IWDIG received a donation to boost its funds. We hope to follow-up on more publishing opportunities in 2009 and promote both our photographers and the IWDIG where possible.

All images copyright 2008 © the Photographer and may not be reproduced without permission

Congratulations to Sandown & Shanklin District Camera Club (SSDCC) who on Thursday night won and took back home to Watery Lane, the prestigious Jessops Cup. 

The Jessops Cup Competition, not being the only recognition, it was a double cup celebration as this week also saw, SSDCC President Eric Mitchell take home, the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Services to the Photographic Community.

Amanda commented: “SSDCC will need a job lot of Duraglit“  

The annual Jessops Cup event was hosted this year by Niton and District Camera Club at the Buddle Inn, it was well represented with six of the Islands photographic groups from across the Isle of Wight, in attendance.

The Judge for the evening was Nick Hendry, whom we all thought gave fair and comprehensive critique along with some impressive individual marks for our panel of ten images.

Our thanks to all the IWDIG members who submitted their images for consideration, as usual the work was of such a high standard, that the images of the group selected made up an impressive panel, which clearly showed in our resulting 78 score (thanks to one of our members for pointing out the typo error on the score). 

We were exceptionally pleased to note that we continue to be the only photographic group on the Island to submit a panel of entries from 10 individual photographers.